Hallgrimsson Faces Job Pressure After Ireland’s Shock Defeat to Armenia

Heimir Hallgrimsson, the Republic of Ireland manager, has taken full responsibility for the team's stunning 2-1 loss to Armenia in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier held in Yerevan. The defeat has placed his position under intense scrutiny.

The Republic of Ireland's performance was deeply disappointing, especially considering Armenia's lower ranking (105th in the world). This setback follows a previous 2-2 draw against Hungary in their opening match. Consequently, the Republic finds itself at the bottom of Group F with a mere one point, significantly diminishing their chances of qualifying for next year's finals.

Eduard Spertsyan's penalty gave Armenia the lead in the dying moments of the first half. Grant-Leon Ranos then increased their advantage in the 51st minute. Evan Ferguson managed to pull one back for the Republic six minutes later, but it wasn't enough to alter the outcome.

The Republic of Ireland's next challenge is a daunting away game against Group F leaders Portugal on October 11, followed by a home match against Armenia three days later. The pressure is mounting, and Hallgrimsson is acutely aware of the precariousness of his situation.

Speaking to RTE, Hallgrimsson stated, "Of course, I take the blame for this. But the players are the same players we were happy with against Bulgaria and in the second half against Hungary."

He added, "I will take the blame; the players need support, and we need to encourage them. They are going back to their clubs, and hopefully, they come back in four weeks ready for the next challenge. This was an off day, and we have to look inside and see what we can do differently."

Hallgrimsson's contract extends until the end of the qualifying campaign. However, he acknowledged that this latest performance would inevitably raise questions about his future. "The job of the coach, if they are not producing, then of course it is always a question," the 58-year-old stated. "I am not naive; it is understandable now and after this performance. Everything needs to be perfect from now on, and after this, it is difficult to be optimistic that we will go to Portugal and win those games with a performance like that."

Hallgrimsson lamented almost everything that went wrong in Armenia. "We were not as solid defending as we normally are, we lost a lot of duels, in possession we made lots of mistakes and lost the ball in tough areas," he explained.

"Armenia can be quick on the counter, and they have good individuals with good individual skills, and they deservedly won. There are a lot more negatives than positives, that is for sure. We are hugely disappointed."

Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Hallgrimsson brought on Adam Idah and Kasey McAteer, replacing Jack Taylor and Chiedozie Ogbene. He explained, "We wanted to change it tactically; we thought we needed a goal early, so we wanted two strikers, and that was successful three days ago, so that was one of the reasons we did this change. Also [we wanted] fresh legs, but the substitutions are on me, of course."

Regarding the limited involvement of star striker Evan Ferguson, Hallgrimsson said, "We didn't create a lot of chances. It is not about him or how we can involve him. The whole team were not on it, and it was Armenia's day, not ours."

Echoing his manager's sentiments, Captain Nathan Collins admitted that the better team won and reflected on his team's shortcomings. "I probably do think they were the better team, which is nowhere near where our standards should be," Collins said. "We didn't create enough. It probably wasn't defensively strong enough and overall, just wasn't a good enough performance. We have to beat Portugal; that's the be all and end all. We have to go there and get a result, and that's all I can say."

Image source, Inpho